The Switch Trilogy 3: The Truth
by shadowglove
Summary: Sequel to The Deal. CHLEX. Some months have passed and yet Lex still hasn't told Chloe the truth about Clark and he living in each other's bodies and his insecurities about her love. When he gets into contact with red!K Lex might lose Chloe forever...


**Disclaimer: I do not own Smallville.**

_Okay people, this wasn't supposed to be done until I've finished with R1 (the first requested list) but since I'm almost done with it (like two more left) and SO many people have been reviewing The Deal and asking me for the update, I've decided to give you all the requested oneshot update to the __**The Switch/The Deal**__ universe. _

_My good friend Sabrina, who's been waiting a long time to see me actually write this, requested it. _

_**Chlex, red kryptonite, mean!andthen repentant!lex.**_

_Sorry to everyone out there who might like Lana, because while I try not to do it in my stories, I have __**Lana-bashing**__ in this one. I feel horrible doing it actually, but I feel that in this circumstance it is needed._

_**NO SMUT IN THIS ONE DUE TO THE FACT THAT I WANTED IT MORE TENDER AND SHOWING THE LOVE MORE THAN THE LUST.**_

--

Sitting still in the dark of her room, Chloe hugged herself, eyes unseeing as she looked out into the nothingness of the blackness of her childhood home. It'd been the longest time since she'd been in this room—she'd practically moved in with Cla--_Lex_ at the Kent farm, and yet now she found herself alone at her father's house once more, confused and heartbroken.

She'd taken a big chance on their romance when she realized that the man she'd been with all those months hadn't been Clark Kent, but _Lex Luthor_ in his body. She'd been sure that he'd come clean and tell her the truth once he was sure of their relationship, Clark (in Lex's body) had just come out of his coma so she could understand why Lex would be insecure.

But that'd been months ago.

Clark had moved into the Luthor Mansion with Lana (who didn't know about the body change), and was apparently trying to make the marriage she had with 'Lex' work. From the gossip Chloe knew that the marriage wasn't going well, despite the fact that Lana was unknowingly married to the 'love of her life'.

Still, things had gotten better and better with Chloe and Lex, and while the face she said "I love you" to was Clark's, Chloe knew who was really in there, who she was really saying she loved. She just wished that Lex would come out and tell her the truth about the whole body-switching.

She'd already worked everything out, even knew when and how it'd happened, and yet she needed Lex to trust her enough to let her know the truth, to bare himself to her completely.

And yet it hadn't happened.

What _had_ happened was heartbreaking.

Chloe was pregnant.

She didn't know how many months along she was because her period had always been irregular and sometimes she'd go a month or two without a flux so she really hadn't paid any attention to that sign, until, of course, she'd started getting other signs--morning sickness and mood swings the two major ones.

After much inner debate she'd taken a home pregnancy test, and when that's tested positive she'd given into denial and tested herself again, and again, and _again_.

So, with ten different pregnancy tests telling her that she was pregnant she'd had to accept it. But then came more confusion. Were Lex and her parents--or were _Clark_ and her parents? How exactly did this work when you were with someone who was living in someone else's body?

In her heart it was Lex's child she was going to have, because the one she truly was with was him, but the body whose sperm had impregnated her was _Clark's_. Obviously Kryptonians were compatible in the fertile area of lovemaking with humans.

_Whose child is growing inside me?_

Hugging herself tighter, Chloe closed her eyes and bit back a sob as she remembered the reason of her heartbreak--the reason why she'd returned to her father's house on earlier that day.

--

_Taking in a deep breath, Chloe looked around the house for Lex. She'd taken the tests in the relative safety of her dad's home (Gabe was out of the country in business so she was safe from being discovered) and now that she was one hundred percent sure that she was pregnant she needed to talk to Lex. She needed to let Lex know that they were going to be parents, and she needed him to finally come clean and tell her the truth about having switched bodies with Clark and how later on they'd struck up a deal to remain in each others bodies._

_It didn't matter that she'd already found out the details--the principle was him coming clean with her. And he would. Whether he wanted to or not._

_With that determination in mind, Chloe continued searching the house and finally decided that Lex wasn't there. He was probably in the barn. Like Clark he found the place soothing, and whenever they had fights or he needed time to think or just be alone he'd go up there._

_Walking towards the barn, Chloe paused when she noticed a jaguar that she hadn't noticed when she'd driven up earlier. It was parked by the barn, and she knew whose car it was._

_Frowning, the blonde entered the barn stealthily, making sure not to make a sound as she heard two voices up in the loft._

_"I tried to make it work with him, Clark." Lana Luthor whispered as she stood close to Lex, looking up into the face of her true husband and not even realizing it. "But I never loved Lex, not even when we got married. I always loved you and only you, and although he's honestly tried changing these last couple of months I can't help but still close my eyes and think of __**you**_ _when we're having sex."_

_Chloe's eyes widened. On one hand she was jealous as hell that Lana would come to 'Clark' and say these things when she was married and knew that 'Clark' was with Chloe, and on the other hand she was sorry for Lex. She knew that the man she loved had once loved Lana, and to hear the brunette speak about him like that must really sting._

_"No one's ever good enough for you, are they, Lana?" Lex sneered in disgust, and it looked so odd on Clark's face._

_Lana's eyes widened, her perfectly painted lips opening slightly in surprise at being spoken to that way by 'Clark'. "What--? What do you mean? I love--."_

_"Yourself." Lex sneered darker, shaking his head at her. "It's taken me a long time to figure that out, but I'm glad I did. Nothing I ever did or ever could've done would have made you love me. And you know what? It's because you're incapable of truly loving someone who wasn't yourself."_

_"How can you say that?" Lana's hazel eyes filled with tears that would've had Clark rushing to hold her in his arms and comforting her. "I've loved you longer than I've ever loved anyone else." Her voice wavered as she took another step towards Lex, placing her hand over his heart. "I've __**never**__ loved anyone like I love you."_

_"You don't love me, Lana." Lex grabbed her hand and must have squeezed it hard because she whimpered in pain and tugged it back, looking at him wide-eyed. "You love the __**idea**__ of Clark Kent, the besotted fool who loved and worshipped you despite how many guys you got around. Who always wanted you back no matter what you did."_

_"That's not true!" Lana's voice rose. "I love you, Clark!"_

_"Then why's your marriage failing so miserably?" Lex sneered darker._

_Lana was confused at that question. "I don't understand, Clark. I love __**you**__, that is why I asked Lex for the divorce today. I told him—I told him that I couldn't stand him, that his neediness, it was claustrophobic! I told him I loved you!"_

_And Lex began to laugh._

_Chloe hadn't been able to watch anymore and left the barn and returned to the Kent home, well, to Lex's and her home. Martha had moved to a penthouse in Metropolis so Lex and Chloe were living together in the Kent farmhouse._

_The blonde sat down in the living room and went over what she needed to say to Lex once he was done destroying Lana. She really didn't have much time to go over her rehearsed lines because in what must have been less than a minute she heard the sound of an engine and then of a car racing away from the house._

_And in what would seem like seconds (and probably were) Lex was coming through the front door, slamming it shut behind him. _

_Chloe got up from the seat, but before she could say anything Lex spoke._

_"Did you enjoy that?" He growled, looking at her angrily, his eyes flashing red as he glare at her. "Did you enjoy hearing me tell her that I didn't love her? Did you enjoy hearing stupid Clark Kent tell the woman he's supposedly always loved to take a hike?"_

_Chloe's eyes widened as she caught that flash of red in Clark's baby blue eyes…and realized with a sinking feeling that she wasn't dealing with Clark __**or**__ Lex--she was dealing with Lex, in Clark's body, doped with redK…but how had Lex gotten close enough to red kryptonite for it to affect him this much?_

_"Haven't you always wanted to hear me tell her that? Has that helped your ego and self-esteem any little bit?" Lex growled, dangerous and probably not understanding why he was acting this way. Probably the uncertainty of the situation was making him even more irritated, and in turn, enraged. _

_Made him say those things._

_But then again, Clark had never told lies while he was under the influence of redK…on the contrary, he was at his most truthful. When Clark was under the influence it was like he was drunk, telling the truth without filtering it. It was what he truly felt, what he truly felt deep inside of him but would never say as to not hurt those he loved…_

_And with that revelation Chloe felt sick at her stomach—and it wasn't because of the morning sickness._

_"I'm never good enough for anyone." Lex hissed, slamming his fist into the wall, leaving a large hole in it and causing Chloe to jump in shock. "I'm not good enough for Lana to love me and I'm not good enough for you either. All you two can ever think about is Clark Kent, and you love him with all your foolish hearts when neither of you have him!"_

_Chloe opened her mouth to try and speak. She needed to tell him, needed to tell Lex that she knew it was __**him**__, needed to let him know that she'd known that for a long time now and that she loved __**him**__._

_But Lex wasn't finished. "I'm sick of this, sick of pretending, sick of the lying, I'm sick of our relationship."_

_Chloe's heart stopped, and the words that she'd practiced all died in her throat. "What?"_

_In the blink of an eye Lex was in front of her, grabbing her arm and shaking her angrily. "I said I'm sick of being with you like this. I'm sick of our relationship. I'm sick of the way it is and I'm sick and how pathetic I've become because of you." He sneered, shaking her some more. "I want it to end."_

_Had--had Lex been thinking this all along but hadn't had the heart to tell her this? To tell poor, stupid Chloe Sullivan that he'd gotten over 'them' way long ago?_

_"And to think, I was going to settle down with this, I deserve better. I'd gotten another ring before, but I thought you deserved better and I got this one. But I realized something about our relationship today." He reached into his front pocket and pulled out an engagement ring…a __**red**__ engagement ring. "I can do better." With that he flung the ring as far away from him as he could. The ring flew through the window, breaking the glass and disappearing._

_And suddenly his eyes flashed red again, draining of the color until the baby blues were looking at Chloe in confusion and pain._

_Lex let go of her arm and took a step back. "Chloe, I--."_

_"No, don't say you're sorry." Chloe whispered, fighting tears. "I don't know what the jeweler told you when you picked out that ring, but that was red kryptonite, and whenever Clark Kent gets into contact with redK he turns into a monster." She raised her teary green eyes to meet his blue ones. "Makes sense that you would act the same way, Lex, considering that you're in his body and all that."_

_"You--." Those eyes widened in horror and disbelief. "You __**know.**__"_

_"Yeah," she laughed sorrowfully, wiping at a tear as it made its way down her cheek rebelliously. "I know you're Lex Luthor. I've known it for months now." She smiled sadly. "You mightn't have realized it, Lex, but I've been whispering __**your name**__ every time we make love."_

_He looked as if she'd hit him, he even staggered back a couple of paces. "Chloe, I--why didn't you tell me?"_

_"Because I wanted __**you**__ to tell __**me**__. I wanted you to love me enough to trust me with the truth." She confessed softly, looking away. "But I guess that was stupid of me when all this time you were sick of our relationship and just settling with me until you couldn't stand it and me any longer."_

_"No." Lex shook his head, voice desperate. "No! Chloe. I didn't mean it like that! What I meant was--!"_

_"I don't want to hear it, Lex." Chloe growled, snapping at him because otherwise she'd break down and cry. "You're right. We all deserve better than this."_

_Lex reached for her when she tried to sidestep him and leave. "Chloe, please--I love you. I--."_

_"Don't." Chloe jerked her arm from his grasp, not able to look him in the face. "I'll send Lois for my things later." And just like that she walked out of his life forever…and he let her._

--

_What am I going to do now_? Chloe cried as she hugged herself on the bed in which she'd cried over Clark Kent in all during her teenaged years. _What do I do now that I know that Lex Luthor, the man I love, the father of my unborn child, doesn't love me? Probably never did_?

She couldn't find an answer to that answer, and so she just cried.

_He must be so relieved right now._

--

Lex Luthor was desperate.

He'd lost her--he'd lost the only woman he'd ever loved and who'd ever loved him back--and he still couldn't process it.

Sitting in the darkness of their room, hugging the pillow that still smelt of her shampoo to his chest, Lex looked unseeingly at the blackness of the room. How could things have gone to hell so quickly? How had all of his darkest insecurities bubbled up so horribly and destructively?

One thing Lex knew for certain, he'd meant everything he'd said to Chloe under the influence of what she'd called redK.

He'd been incensed and hurt by what Lana said. Although he'd always suspected as much to be true, it'd still hurt hearing the woman he'd married, the woman he'd wanted to be the mother of his children, say that she'd loved another even when she'd married him.

And then he'd realized Chloe was listening and he'd grown angrier because he'd thought about how happy she must be for her beloved 'Clark' to be saying all the things he'd said to Lana. And that'd gotten him thinking about the injustice of their relationship, of him loving her and her loving 'Clark'--or so he'd been so convinced of!

That was why the moment Lana had driven away he'd superspeeded to confront Chloe and all those ugly truths had come out in the wrong way.

He'd felt so insignificant, so _unlovable_. Both Lana and Chloe'd loved him because they thought he was Clark, and while he truly couldn't have cared less about Lana's feelings it was the thought of Chloe's devotion that'd torn him in two and made him lash out at her like a wounded animal.

Everything he'd said had been true.

He was sick of pretending to be Clark, he was sick of the lying he did to Chloe and everybody else, and most of all he was sick of the way he'd let their relationship become.

When he'd told Chloe that he was sick of being with her like that, sick of their relationship, sick of the way it was and sick of how pathetic he'd become because of her, he'd also been telling the truth.

He wanted it to end. He wanted all the lies and deceit to end. He wanted to be with Chloe and not worry that somehow the truth would come out and she'd become disgusted when she realized that she wasn't with her idolized, perfect and superpowered hero Clark Kent—but that she was with Lex Luthor, the one everyone painted as the villain of the story.

He'd been about to settle for it though because a lie of a life with Chloe was heaven compared to the hell of a truth-filled life without her. But he'd realized something thanks to the redK, he'd realized he could do better.

Or, at least, the rock had given him enough courage to decide that he would tell Chloe the whole truth--until she'd beaten him to the punch and told him that she'd known the truth--known it was him.

She'd told him how she'd loved _him_, right before she'd walked out of his life forever and he'd just let her.

He'd let her go because he didn't have any right to do anything else, not after the way he'd treated her. Lex had messed up, he'd destroyed the only good thing in his life and this was his just punishment.

So deep was he in his misery, Lex didn't notice the door opening in the darkness until it slammed shut. He looked up in surprise and froze when he saw her silhouette in the moonlight. "_Chloe_?"

"Shut up." She snapped, taking in a deep breath. "You spoke all you wanted to this evening and now you're just going to shut up and let me do the talking."

Unable to believe that she was there, Lex obeyed submissively, straightening slightly, hugging the pillow tighter in a sign of vulnerability that was hidden by the darkness of the room.

"First off, I'm going to say that you're an idiot." Chloe announced with a voice of steel. "And second of all, I'm going to say that I understand everything you told me. Sure, you could have told me it in a better way, and sure, you could have told me everything a lot sooner and saved us both from what happened, but I get it. You're still relatively new to Clark's body despite the fact that you've been in it for almost a year, and we're lucky that you hadn't gotten into contact with redK before today."

He wanted to beg for forgiveness, plead for her to take him back, but he wouldn't. He remained silent, listening to her, wondering if this would be the last time they'd be here in this room together.

"And I know you love me." Chloe surprised the hell out of him when she said that. "What you said hurt me like I've never hurt before, but after I stopped thinking about it with my heart and analyzed it with my head I understood what you were saying. You were hurt too, Lex, and you were lashing out at me. You were angry with me because you thought you loved me and I didn't love you, you thought that I loved Clark."

"It still didn't give me any right--."

"I'm not done yet." She cut into him before continuing. "Despite what you said today, I don't believe you. You love me Lex. You told me that with every look, with every touch, with your stupid insecurities when it came to Clark, in the way you take care of me." She took in a deep breath and moved in the darkness until she was sitting next to him on the bed. "Someone can lie about love all they want, but they can't deny their actions. And your actions say that you love me with all your soul, despite whatever your words say."

His heart skipped a beat as he looked into her beautiful face, half covered in the shadows of the night. Was this--? Was she--? "Chloe--."

"Sure, maybe I should have told you that I knew the truth, maybe I shouldn't have waited for you to tell me." Chloe bulldozered right own, not letting him speak. "But at the time I wanted you to tell me because you trusted me, not because you'd been found out."

He opened his mouth.

"_Now_ all I want is for you to get over it."

Lex closed his mouth, blinking slightly, utterly confused. "Get over _what_?"

"_Everything_." Chloe announced, voice shaking for a moment as she shifted position on the bed, obviously nervous. "Because whether it's the best timing or not, you're going to be a daddy, and this is going to be confusing enough as it is without you and I acting weird because of your first try of redK."

Lex blinked, trying to digest what she'd said, when suddenly he froze, his heart skipping beat after beat after beat. "_Daddy_?"

Chloe smiled softly, placing her hand to her flat stomach. "Yeah. That's what I went to tell you in the barn. I just confirmed it this morning." Her smile turned more nervous as she reached out and clasped her fingers around his hand, bringing it to her stomach. "Congratulations Lex, you're going to be a daddy."

"_A daddy_." Lex whispered, voice choking as he pressed his hand to her stomach, eyes tearing as he thought of his child growing inside of the woman he loved. He forced his gaze to Chloe and managed to see her smiling softly at him through his tears. "I love you, Chloe."

"I know." She whispered back, teary-eyed as well. "I love you too, Lex Luthor." She looked him deep in his eyes. "I have for the longest time."

And suddenly a damn seemed to break inside Lex and he was holding Chloe tight and crying. They were both crying, clinging to each other, kissing and whispering their love. Lex's heart seemed to get bigger and hurt less every time she whimpered his name, and he showered her face with kisses as she whispered how much she loved him.

"I'm going to marry you." He warned her a little later as they lay in bed, her head resting on the curve of his arm, his hand palm-down on her stomach, caressing the skin with his thumb, thinking of his child growing as they spoke.

"Is that so?" Chloe laughed softly, turning and pressing a kiss to his naked chest.

"Yes." Lex nodded, turning to look her in the face and press and kiss to her forehead. "But I want to do it in my body. I want this baby to be a Luthor when he or she is born."

"Or they." Chloe whispered with a grin. "I have a history of twins on my mother's side of the family, so you can never know."

"_They_." Lex was in awe. "Chloe--if I can--_when_ I change back to my real body--."

"I'm going to love you even when you don't look like Clark, Lex." Chloe raised her hand and cupped his cheek, forcing him to look her in the eyes. "I feel in love with the Luthor within, not the Kent exterior."

"God, I love you." Lex groaned as he closed his eyes and captured her lips with his hungrily.

Chloe only giggled as he pulled her on top of him as Lex proceeded to show her just how true those words were.

--

**There you go, the long, anticipated sequel to The Deal!**

**Review?**


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